Silo



Patented Nov. 10, 1925.

UNiTED STATES ERNEST NELSON, OF BARRON,` WISCONSIN.

sILo.

Application mea necemberis, 1924. serai No. 756,743.

To all whom if may concer/a:

Be it known that I, ERNiisT NELSON, a citizen of the Kingdom ofSweden, resident of Barron, county of Barron and State of TWisconsin, U. S. A., have.y invented certain new and useful Improvements in Silos, of which the following is a specification.

In theuse of a silo, the farmer experiences considerable difficulty and labor when the use of the contents of the silo has commenced, due to the freezing of the top layer and the necessity of chopping -out this frozen material nearly everytime a supply of the feed is removed.

The object therefore of my invention is to provide a simple inexpensive construction which7 without the use of any supplementary or extraneous heating means, will enable thev farmer to utilize the comparatively warm air of the barn to keepthe upper portion ofthe material in the silo from freezing and permit its convenient handling whenever required for use as feed.

Other objects of the inif'ention will appear from the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figurel 1 is a vertical sectional View through a silo embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; f

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top view of the silo showing one of the roof doors inV open position for illing purposes;

Figure 5 is a side elevationA of the upper-y portion of the silo showing one of the door sections in its open position.

In the drawings, 2 represents the wall of ar barn having a door opening 3'and door 4: therefor leading to a passage 5v which connects the bai'n with the silo for convenience in removing the ensilage from the silo tothe barn when it is desired to feed the stock. The passage 5 has va suitable top wall 6 and side walls 7 8 represents the silo composed of double wall construction as usual in structures of this kind, the space between the inner and outer walls being horizontally separated or divided by partitions 9 forming a series of independent annular cham bers 10, one above the other in the walls of the silo, each partition having an opening 11 therein forming a communicating passage between the adjacent chambers. f

13 which entends `from the top wall G of the 1,560,713* li a'ii':.1\rr carica..

passage to a point opposite the top of the silo. rIhe wall 6 has an openinglt leading to this trunk and opposite each partition in the silo wall I'arrange a support 15 for a horizontal movable plate 16 that Vis adapted to close the passage through the trunk 13 compelling currents of warm airr entering the opening 111-. from the barn to passinto the annular chamber that is'in communica-A tion with the opening 13. For the purpose of regulating and directing the How of lthese curreiitsof air, I provide doors 17 hinged k'preferably to the outer wall of the'silo in the annular chambers `on each side ofthe opening 12 and temporarily closing-these chambers to the entrance of airfrojin the passage 5. When, therefore,theplatew16 and the chamber controlling doorsare inl the position shown in VFigure-1, the kcurrents of partially heated air in-vthe barn, or from, some other source, will flow-- through 'the-- passage 5 up :through the trunk 13 and entering i the annular chamber ,in communica-` tion with the trunk 13 will flow horizontally ing the iiinerwall thereof adjacent theKtOp of the body of ensilage thereinand preventing this topportionfrom freezing and requiring the. use vof fan ax -orvother `toolvfor cutting and loosening it before it can"--be 'relV moved and'deliver'ed to the receiv'ingpassage 5. These currents of warm air, 'as noted in Figure 1,` pass directly from the'barn tothe through this chamber around the silo,warm

circulating around 'the'y lower portion ofthe body of ensilage but instead -is delivered' diff rectly to the chamber nearestfthe upper por;y tion and hence I am :able toutilize practicall ly all the heat of this air to prevent the top? of the ensil'age fromfreeziiiginstead-.ofJhav-V ing the air partially cooled by circulating around a portion ofthe ensilage that is not to be immediately removed. Each section of the inner wall has a removable 'door 18 through which the ensilage .is pitched into the trunk 13 and from thence falls into the passage beneath, the doors being removed when it is desired to pass the circulating currents of warm air around the top ot the ensilage. l am thus able to selectively direct currents of warm air from the passage or any other source into and around any one ot the horizontal chambers in the wall or the silo and preferably such currents will be directed into the chamber which encircles the top layer of the mass oi ensilage and ther by this top layer is prevented trom ireezing and can be easily removed for feeding pur poses. The air currents having passed around the upper layer of the ensilage, may flow up through the opening il in the partition above and Yfrom thence through the upper annular chambers to a discharge spout 19 that is provided in the roof 20, and the ventilating openings 19,. This roof has, preferably7 sections 2i and 21a hinged at 22 and adapted to be opened independently of each other to allow the insertion of a 'feed spout when the silo is being filled, as indicated by dotted iines in Figure l. By providing two hinged sections, am able to conveniently reach one o' the openings in the roorp with the feed spout l cated at a suitable point on either side or' the silo.

I have found with this apparatus that Warm air of the temperature the barn can be passed through or around any one or the horizontal circulating chambers for the purpose of keeping the top of the mass from freezing, while the other chambers are closed to the entrance of such warm air, and the selected chamber to be heated will o1"- course be the one adjacent the top layer of the ensilage which has to be handled first in feeding the stock. a

l claim as my invention:

l. A silo having a series of chambers one above the other in its walls, and means for compelling currents of air to flow around the silo through any selected chamber` of said series.

2, A silo having a hollow wall, a series of horizontal partitions in said wall dividing it into a series of annular chambers, and

means for directing a warming medium into Y and through any one of said chambers.

3. A silo having a double wall and a series of horizontal annularchambers formed one 'above the other in said wall, and means for i selectively passing a Warming medium initially through o ne of said chambers around any desired portion of the contents of the silo. v

l4l. AA silo having a series of horizontal chambers in its wall, one above the other,

and a vertical opening in the wall or' the silo leading to said chambers and to the interior of the silo, means for selectively separating said chambers i'rom said opening, and means ior delivering currents oi Warm air toany one of said chambers to circulate therein around the contents or' the silo.

5. A silo having a series or' chambers one above the other in its Walls, and a vertical opening and with an air conducting passage, l

a trunk leading from said passage and communicating with said opening, means for separating each chamber from said opening, and means in said trunk for directing currents o1 air from said passage to any chainber communicating with said trunk.

A silo having a series oi' chambers one above the other in its walls, and a vertical opening leading to the interior of the silo and communicating on each side with the respective chambers, doors in said chambers for closing the passages leading thereto from said opening and adapted to be opened to allow currents or" air from said opening to flow into and around a selected chamber,

and means for 'delivering currents of air to said opening, said means comprising an air conducting passage,r a trunk communicating therewith and with the upper portion of said opening, and plates provided in said trunk for directing the air currents from said passage to a selected chamber in the silo wall'.

8. A silo having a series of chambers one above the other in its walls and a passage communicating with the interior of a barn or similar structure, and means for selectively directing air or" substantially the same temperature or' the barnthrough any one of said chambers.

In witness whereof, l have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of December, 1924.

` ERNEST NELSON. 

